EPA awards Springfield $600K grant

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has marked the city of Springfield to receive a $600,000 grant to clean up and redevelop brownfields.

Classified as supplemental revolving loan funds, the grant will allow the city to make low-interest loans to carry out cleanup projects at select properties in the area. When the loans are repaid, the funding is returned and re-lent to other borrowers to create a continuing cycle, according to a news release.

Of the total funding announced this week by the EPA, $350,000 is earmarked to clean petroleum at Springfield-area brownfields and $250,000 to address hazardous substances, allowing the city to provide cleanup services for four to eight contaminated properties.

The EPA's Brownfields Program was created to redevelop abandoned and contaminated properties in the U.S. Brownfields are defined as properties where expansion, redevelopment or reuse is hindered due to the presence of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants, the release said.

Since 1999, the EPA has awarded Springfield 15 brownfields grants. Since 2009, five grants have been utilized to perform environmental cleanups on land in the future Jordan Valley West Meadows and more than $1.6 million has been used to establish the Springfield Brownsfield Program. The local program is working to establish the second phase of the Jordan Valley cleanup project, dubbed Renew Jordan Creek, which is planned to add green space, trails and boost economic development across 300 acres in center city, according to the city of Springfield release.